Wednesday Bolts – 5.4.11

Bill Simmons wrote about the playoffs yesterday and had this to say about Serge Ibaka: “For Serge Ibaka, the 24th pick of the 2008 draft who’s suddenly lurking as … A. The third-best player on a potential title team. B. The answer to the trivia question, “Just out of curiosity, what would it be like if Bill Russell fathered a kid in the Congo who didn’t play basketball until he was 16, then came over to the States at age 19 and learned basketball and the English language on the fly, and also, we gave him a 15-footer?” C. The league’s single most frightening/intimidating/menacing athlete if the crowd is charged up and you need someone to cover two-thirds of a basketball court in three seconds and block someone’s layup from 10 feet behind him.”

Zach Lowe of SI on Russell Westbrook’s turnovers: “The Grizzlies know Westbrook is going to get into the middle of the paint against Mike Conley, and they are OK with that. They appear to have even planned for that. Over and over, you see Westbrook drive into the paint, only to have at least one help defender (and more often two) meet him somewhere between the foul line and the dotted line at the bottom of the semicircle. The goal is clearly to have Westbrook pick up his dribble there and force him into a split-second decision — preferably one he has to make while he’s in the air. That slice of space is far enough from the rim that any shot is going to be a difficult floater instead of a layup; if he gets much deeper than that, the Grizzlies understand they are in trouble.”

Kelly Dwyer of BDL on Westbrook and Derrick Rose: “You can see it in Westbrook’s eyes. Each time down court, he seems bound and determined to either fire up a shot, no matter what the defense does, or find a teammate with a pass. His mind is made up as he gets the ball in the backcourt, and the various permutations that present themselves as a result of shifting amongst the defense or his teammates hardly matter. It’s like me, a terrible video game player, attempting to play “Madden” for the first time in a decade. No matter what, I’ve already called the play in the huddle, I’m not looking anywhere else and I’m going to pass to that tight end. Doesn’t matter who else is open. Doesn’t matter how well he’s covered.”

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports: “After watching the Memphis Grizzlies batter his Oklahoma City Thunder in the opener of the teams’ second-round series, Kendrick Perkins knew something needed to change. So he encouraged Kevin Durant to gather the team together … and watch the game again. Durant took Perkins’ suggestion and arranged for a players-only dinner at his house on Monday night. The team dined on a Thanksgiving-worthy spread prepared by Durant’s personal chef and watched every minute of OKC’s disheartening loss to the Grizzlies. The players stopped the video at times to discuss specific breakdowns. By the end of the evening, they were in agreement on what needed to be done to improve.”

Berry Tramel: “The fouls kept mounting. Nine against the Thunder in the first quarter alone. Two more in the first three minutes of the second quarter. Didn’t set well with the Big Blue crowd. But somewhere behind that scowl, Kendrick Perkins was smiling. “Be the instigator, not the retaliator,” Perk said. “You always gotta be the instigator.” In a 111-102 victory over Memphis on Tuesday night, the Thunder went from passive to aggressive, from the bullied to the bullies, from the brink of elimination to a brand new series.”

Chris Mannix of SI: “The depth in Oklahoma City is good. Check that, it’s really good. Many of the Thunder’s subs could be starters somewhere else, foundation players rebuilding teams drool over. Take Maynor. Big college star, first-round pick; he has NBA starter splashed all over him. He’s a 6-foot-3, 175-pound pass-first playmaker with a sweet shot. Oklahoma City poached him from cost-cutting Utah in 20t09 and plugged him in behind Westbrook, a 35-minute-plus per-game player who doesn’t like to come out.”

Darnell Mayberry: “The Thunder’s defense just looked better tonight. I paid close attention to the pick-and-roll defense on Mike Conley and Marc Gasol. That ate the Thunder up in Game 1. Tonight, Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins did a much better job of applying pressure at the point of the ball. But the weak side defenders also stepped up by rotating with more effort and cutting off shots at the rim. Ibaka was huge in that aspect. His shot-blocking and mere threat to block shots denied or altered several Memphis possessions out of the pick and roll.”

John Hollinger of ESPN.com: “Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that the Thunder need to win one in Memphis, too. The series moves there on Saturday and it will be a very different FedEx Forum than the Thunder (or anyone, for that matter) are used to seeing — a rowdy, packed house with blue Growl Towels waving, similar to their own raucous home court at the Ford Center. While that will be a tougher environment for the Thunder, the math remains the same. Plainly, they can outshoot the Grizzlies. It’s only when they’re outscrapped, as they were in Game 1, that they’re vulnerable.”

From Elias: “James Harden came off the bench to score 21 points while Eric Maynor scored 15 as a sub in Oklahoma City’s win over Memphis in Game 2. It was the first time in exactly 14 years that two players came off the bench to score at least 15 points in a playoff game for this franchise. David Wingate (19) and Sam Perkins (15) did it for the Sonics against the Suns in Game 5 in 1997.”

3 Shades of Blue: “Wakeup call for the Griz? No, I’d say not-they’ve known that their opponents command respect-but “off night” is just a phrase that comes to mind, and it was “off” because of some great adjusted D by the Thunder and some fatigue on the part of our Griz.”

dylan :People need to learn to subtract what the Lakers did post Gasol-swap. Pau was not sticking around in Memphis, and it’s the GM’s job to do the best for his team, not worry about who he’s trading to.I mean, look at it this way, our trade for Daequan Cook allowed Miami to have enough cap room to sign LeBron, Wade and Bosh. If they win the title this year, do we all attack Presti?

You can’t reasonably compare Cook to Gasol. Pau Gasol was Memphis’ franchise player. Daequan Cook is a bonafide role player (who I’m glad plays for us!). You cannot trade away the franchise player for pennies on the dollar. Look at how the Nuggets did with Carmelo. Drive the price high, let the two bidders over bid, and sell him to the Knicks for much more than the original offer. We knew he was going. If I recall correctly, Memphis hadn’t let many teams know he was even available, because he certainly could have gotten better value for him from somewhere else. Jerry West and Chris Wallace gave him away, and it swung the NBA title for 3 years.

Beast :I, too will be in Seattle next weekend. Where can I score some Sonics gear? Any Seattle types, can you lead me in the direction of a nice place to get anything Sonics? Also, how about places to eat? I know of this Paseo place, but don’t know of many others. Sorry if this is turning into Travel talk. Definitely good to see the team back together last night. Bench backcourt with huge games!

For Sonics gear, they have it on-line here http://www.seattleteams.com/istar.asp?a=3&dept=sonicsNot sure if it is in stores but you could call them. They have several locations (and used to be the official local Sonics shop) so ask them where the gear is, if it is in stores at all.

For restaurants, I am not sure if I'll get back to answer but if you specified a desired cuisine I might have suggestions.

walrusmuse :okay, I have a conundrum: I’ll be in Seattle all next week, including game 3-I need some advice from Sonics fans on here/Seattle residents:1. how to handle myself like a rabid fan but not a jerk. I love Seattle and her people. I want to wear some clothes in support on game days.2. where to watch the game if possible…3. that’s it. Thunder Up.

It was (at least at one time) or still is partly owned by prominent NBA agent Aaron Goodwin (and reportedly LeBron James had a share at one time too)

I haven't been in there in some time so I can't say what the crowd is like these days or how the response to an openly Thunder would go.

I doubt you'd have trouble but rules of thumb might be don't start or escalate anything; especially don't get into (fairly unlikely) loud, at a distance or just passing by talk that could become trash-talk, especially if it involves a drunk guy or several drunk guys.

Having 1 on 1 non-loud private conversations, I doubt you'd have problems.

If you got a comment that was challenging, the options would seem to be: 1) keep walking or 2) acknowledge they were a Sonics fan and maybe go into the I wish it hadn't gone that way but the big-wigs did and didn't do what they did talk... and I got lucky at the same time as your misfortune... hope you get another team.. who do you follow now... yada yada...

Other good options, probably even less likely to be testy (though may not be that focused on the TV screens):

@DJ 7You're right, it's not surprising he wasn't playing organized basketball until his teens.

I was just criticizing Simmons for trading in stereotypes about African basketball players, which apply to a guy like Hasheem Thabeet who literally saw his first pick-up game at 15, not to Serge.

Both Serge's parents were members of their national basketball teams. His father played against Hakeem Olajuwon! Serge has been playing since he was 7, under the guidance of his father, and he began organized training with Maxim Mboche, one of his father's teammates, in his early teens. He was playing on an African club team at 16 and professional European basketball at 17.

Serge's unusual family background and early training in basketball fundamentals (look at that beautiful form on his jumper) separates him from the typical raw African prospect.

@GlennPThunderUpTrading Daequan Cook wasn't the key to Lebron, Wade and Bosh signing. They had plenty of room to sign those guys even with Cook.

Trading Cook's contract and the cap hold for the 18th pick in the 2011 draft to OKC allowed Miami to sign Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem. Both of their 5 year contracts are looking like slowly tightening nooses for Miami. Thank Sam Presti for that.

You, and I both know theres a difference between pick up games, and playing organize games. I know guys who seem amazingly good, and should have been someone in the game, BUT when it came to playing high school ball or collegiate they couldn't get into it. Its like how they talked about Duncan. He didn't play organized basketball until he was in high school. I'm sure someone of his magnitude was playing pick up games since he was a toddler. Obviously Ibaka played the sport and knew the game, but why is it hard to believe he wasn't playing organized basketball until his teens?

Wallace may have put together a good team with this group he has now, but let's not forget the Pau trade and the Thabeet pick at #2. The pieces he put together fell into his lap. His overpaid "superstar" is out for the season and they did better without him. Randolph, on the other hand, was a great pickup. Somehow, Hollins has gotten him to play all-NBA basketball.

dylan :People need to learn to subtract what the Lakers did post Gasol-swap. Pau was not sticking around in Memphis, and it’s the GM’s job to do the best for his team, not worry about who he’s trading to.I mean, look at it this way, our trade for Daequan Cook allowed Miami to have enough cap room to sign LeBron, Wade and Bosh. If they win the title this year, do we all attack Presti?

You can't reasonably compare Cook to Gasol. Pau Gasol was Memphis' franchise player. Daequan Cook is a bonafide role player (who I'm glad plays for us!). You cannot trade away the franchise player for pennies on the dollar. Look at how the Nuggets did with Carmelo. Drive the price high, let the two bidders over bid, and sell him to the Knicks for much more than the original offer. We knew he was going. If I recall correctly, Memphis hadn't let many teams know he was even available, because he certainly could have gotten better value for him from somewhere else. Jerry West and Chris Wallace gave him away, and it swung the NBA title for 3 years.

Ibaka’s official introduction to the game came at age 7, when he began playing casually in the streets of Brazzaville, a city just smaller than the Oklahoma City metro area. He spent his days in school and his free time shooting hoops with friends.

"I played every day,” Ibaka said. "If there was a day that I couldn’t play, I felt so bad, like something was missing that day.”

No self respecting GM will draft a player in the first round who just picked up basketball at 16. Chris Wallace would, which is how you end up with Thabeet at #2 overall. I've been reading lately about how a few people think Wallace trading Pau for Marc wasn't as bad as originally thought. Nevermind the fact that that trade singlehandedly sent the Lakers to 3 straight Finals appearances and two titles.

@Gunni ThorA lot of these African bigs, who end up failing in the NBA, actually pick up a basketball for the first time at 16 or so. See Hasheem Thabeet. Serge was playing in Europe in 06-07 in professional junior club competition (DKV Juventut). He turned 17 in September, 2006.

If Simmons is seriously asserting that Serge "didn't play until he was 16," how could he be playing professionally (and well) in Europe on his 17th birthday? It's hyperbole and doesn't jive.

Also, I was about 15 rows back in the corner by the visitors' bench. From where I sat, there were a TON of non-calls that hurt the Thunder in the first quarter. And there were some questionable calls for the Grizz as well.

It really felt like the boys were battling five opposing players and at least one craptacular ref, number 9.

Never got a chance to chime in on last night's win. So here's my thoughts:

1) LOL @ Randolph2) Way to adjust Russ3) Thank goodness for that quality bench4) Ibaka was clearly asked to chase fewer shots and concentrate on his man5) Perkins really did a nice job on Gasol and the PnR, Westbrook too (though less so)6) Let Conley take those jumpers all he wants and

7) Russ and Thabo really did a nice job of timing their double teams on Randolph. They only charged long enough to force Randolph to pick up his dribble and improve Ibaka's chances. And they only maintained the double team when Randolph was pinned on the baseline. Perfect. I'm sure Randolph and Co will adjust and score more points, but I'm glad they figured out at least one method that works.

@cdub00Just so ya know, Hollinger has been the main leader of the Howard for MVP crusade. You'd think Rose did Hollingers mom Delonte West style. He wrote the most scathing article on why Rose SHOULDN't have won MVP. I'm an espn insider, and had to put up with snide Rose comments everytime I read one of his articles. For the record, I was in support for Rose winning the MVP over Howard.

Ibaka has clearly been #3 in this playoffs (arguably #2) for defensive reasons. But I think Harden is the better player, he just doesn't get the same opportunity. They are close though, and we need both playing well.

Things are shaping up for another Atlanta upset tonight. Rose reaggravated his ankle last game and now he's going to be presented with MVP before Game 2, which should pump up the Hawks. If the Bulls drop this game they're as good as done.

I've been pondering this for awhile, and the past two days I've seen things that have brought it up, ie the simmons article and espn's story on game 2. But who would you guys consider our third best player? Serge with his defensive presence and when he's hitting, his offensive game. Or Harden with his ability to score from anywhere and really improved defense. Of course both have their issues, but who's our 3rd better player.

@DXLHow come that is so unbelievable? I'm fairly certain Ibaka's meaning is that he hasn't practised basketball until mid teens though I am certain he has probably played pick up basketball most of his life, that's definetely not the same thing but might explain him shooting lights out early in his career... I think that's a fairly believable since I didn't start playing organized basketball until I was 14 but was picked in the national practise squad by the time I was 15....To bad the national coach really got to see that I really didn't know anything about basketball when he saw me in practises :)

RW did try to do the floater twice last night. He went from saying he would never use it to trying it in a playoff game. I give him props. He did go 1-2. The first one he made was sweet. My favorite shot of the game. The 2 one clanked out, but it was still on. Russ does see he asks Maynor questions and learns from him because Maynor has been a PG longer. What if Maynor is teaching RW the floater

I, too will be in Seattle next weekend. Where can I score some Sonics gear? Any Seattle types, can you lead me in the direction of a nice place to get anything Sonics? Also, how about places to eat? I know of this Paseo place, but don't know of many others. Sorry if this is turning into Travel talk. Definitely good to see the team back together last night. Bench backcourt with huge games!

@DJ 7Serge admitted he didn't start playing organized basketball until his mid-teens. I find it very, very difficult to believe that his father, who played for their country's national team, didn't put a basketball in Serge's hands before his mid-teens.

Especially with the videos we've seen of Serge at 16 and 17 just shooting lights out from long-range. You don't pick up that kind of skill in just a couple of years.

@cdub00I realize you hate all things Derrick Rose-related, or at least the hype around him, but I figured Hollinger would be more of a Dwight Howard fan, like most stats-oriented people were. I don't know that for sure, though, since I'm not an ESPN Insider subscriber.

The guy who hit the half-court shot last night, Roman Owen, was a high school basketball star at Okarche High School, and this wasn't the first time he'd made a pressure shot from at or near half-court: http://www.newsok.com/article/1916148I used to write the Okarche newspaper and I've met him. That shot couldn't have been hit by a nicer guy.